Feeding the Football Fix

By: Eli Kaberon

My calendar tells me it’s mid-July, the dog days of summer. In the sports world, that means baseball’s trade deadline is right around the corner, NFL training camps will be popping up any day now, and the Olympics begin in only a few weeks. We just finished watching a historic NBA Finals, a classic Wimbledon final, and a never-ending MLB All-Star game.

Yet when I went to my local newsstand last week to peruse the newest periodicals, all I saw were cover pictures of Tim Tebow, Chase Daniel and Juice Williams, seven different magazine’s telling me why the third time is the charm for the Ohio State Buckeyes, and of course, the annual ‘Watch out for Notre Dame’ article. Apparently, even before August 1 has arrived, the nation is in college football frenzy.

And really, can you blame them? After the crazy 2007 season, the one with all sorts of insane upsets (Appalachian State vs. Michigan) and classic games (Illinois vs. Ohio State), it is only natural to want to start the next year as soon as possible. Will there be another epic end-of-year showdown like Missouri vs. Kansas this season? Who will fill Darren McFadden’s role as the dominant player no team wants to face? And can a Big Ten team ever come close to winning an important bowl game?

Sure, last season didn’t end well. The five BCS bowl games were decided by an average of 20 points, and for the second straight year, Ohio State was embarrassed in the National Championship. The winner of that title game, LSU, was the first team since Minnesota in 1960 to be crowned champion with two losses. And then there was Notre Dame, who went 3-9, scored a total of 13 points in their first three games and lost to Navy for the first time since 1963 in their annual series.

But that has done nothing to impact the sports popularity. In fact, it may have increased it. On one of the magazine’s I looked at, the headline read ‘Who will be this season’s LSU?’ The article inside discussed what team would hit a few bumps in the road during the regular season but still end up on top when the year ends. Another asked which school will be the BCS Buster this season, kind of like Hawaii last year. Of course, the Warriors were demolished in the Sugar Bowl by Georgia 41-10, which kind of takes the thrill out of being a BCS Buster. And then, silliest of all, was the publication that wanted to know ‘Will USC get back on track?’ Illinois fans must be scratching their heads harder than anybody on that question, as their last memory of the Trojans is the 49-17 beat down of the Illini that occurred in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day.

Your local bookstore isn’t the only place that college football is starting earlier than usual. The video game NCAA Football 2009 is also out in every Best Buy and Circuit City, aand gamers can channel their inner Pat Fitzgerald and try to win a bowl game for the mighty Northwestern Wildcats. There’s another option that allows players to take control of a high school recruit, play in state championship games, and get wooed by all of the nation’s top programs. (NOTE: Gamers do not get illegal payments for committing to certain schools.) Finally, there’s just the normal football game, as gamers try to pull off their own version of Boise State’s historic win in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

One of the crazy things about both the preview publications and the video game is that they try to predict how the season will unfold, even though not a single snap has occurred. This is not uncommon, as the Associated Press releases a pre-season poll every year that for some reason has an impact on who is eventually crowned the National Champion. That poll, in theory, is just ranking the teams how they stand right now. But these new rankings are different. Their goal is to predict who will be the best team when the year is over. That means guessing who will get injured, what upsets will take place, which squad will get a lucky bounce and which ones will have their kicks barley scrape the goalposts. I respect the magazines and video game for trying to figure this out, but I have almost no confidence that they will wind up being correct.

Still, it is fun to look at their rankings. The consensus number one team in the land is Georgia, which makes sense based off of the way they ended last season. But while they look good on paper right now, their schedule, which includes high profile games versus Arizona State and Georgia Tech out-of-conference and road trips to LSU, Florida and Auburn in the SEC, is very tough. The ‘Dawgs could run the table and play for the National Title, or they could easily go 9-3 and go to a run-of-the-mill New Year’s Day Bowl. Same with schools like Oklahoma, USC and Ohio State, all of whom have talent spread through their roster but also have some rough opponents lined up. (The Trojans and Buckeyes square off on September 13 in Los Angeles for what could essentially be an early season BCS Elimination Game.)

But the magazines and video games can only do so much to feed a football fix. Knowing what reigning Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow did this off-season to improve his health and endurance is nice, and controlling Tebow as he runs over virtual Tennessee Volunteers is fun, but nothing beats actually watching a real game, seeing Tebow lead his Florida Gators to victory. And that is why I’m sad that its mid-July, the dog days of summer, still a month and a half until the real college football frenzy begins.

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Eli Kaberon is a 2005 graduate of Evanston Township High School and currently is attending Columbia College in the loop, majoring in print journalism. A life-long fan of the Cubs, Bears and Bulls, Eli also works as a seat vendor at Wrigley Field and has sold hot dogs to everyone ranging from Bears tight end Greg Olsen to Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. Eli can be reached at ekaberon@yahoo.com.

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